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A PAEDOPHILE who was linked to his crimes by photos of his hands touching girls has been sentenced to six years in prison.
During a trip to Thailand in 2004, Dean Lewis Hardy took indecent photos of four girls aged around eight to 10, including images of his hand touching two of them.
With the help of a forensic anthropologist from the University of Dundee, police were able to prove Hardy's involvement by matching markings on his hands to those in the photos.
While sentencing him today (April 23), a judge at Southwark Crown Court said Hardy cared only for his “depraved gratification.”
The court heard how police found the photos during a raid on the 50-year-old’s home in Charterhouse Road, Orpington in September 2007.
Stamps in his passport also showed he was in Thailand at the time the photos were taken.
As well as 63 photos from his trip, Hardy was found to have five images from the internet which he had downloaded onto his computer.
On March 19 Hardy pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault on a girl under 14 years, four charges of taking indecent images of children and one charge of possessing indecent images of children.
Today, Judge Gregory Stone sentenced Hardy to six years in prison for the first six charges, to be served concurrently.
He gave no sentence for the charge of possessing images.
He said: “You were plainly exploiting their, and their family’s poverty and vulnerability without caring what harm you were inflicting on these children.
“You were only caring for your own depraved gratification.”
During a trip to Thailand in 2004, Dean Lewis Hardy took indecent photos of four girls aged around eight to 10, including images of his hand touching two of them.
With the help of a forensic anthropologist from the University of Dundee, police were able to prove Hardy's involvement by matching markings on his hands to those in the photos.
While sentencing him today (April 23), a judge at Southwark Crown Court said Hardy cared only for his “depraved gratification.”
The court heard how police found the photos during a raid on the 50-year-old’s home in Charterhouse Road, Orpington in September 2007.
Stamps in his passport also showed he was in Thailand at the time the photos were taken.
As well as 63 photos from his trip, Hardy was found to have five images from the internet which he had downloaded onto his computer.
On March 19 Hardy pleaded guilty to two charges of indecent assault on a girl under 14 years, four charges of taking indecent images of children and one charge of possessing indecent images of children.
Today, Judge Gregory Stone sentenced Hardy to six years in prison for the first six charges, to be served concurrently.
He gave no sentence for the charge of possessing images.
He said: “You were plainly exploiting their, and their family’s poverty and vulnerability without caring what harm you were inflicting on these children.
“You were only caring for your own depraved gratification.”
